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Missions across the world

In 1999 the French population christened the volunteers of THW “Blue Angels”, when they helped to remove the damage in France after hurricane “Lothar” had struck. Since its foundation, THW has been deployed in missions in more than a hundred countries. As humanitarian ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, THW complies with the joint global responsibility of helping people in distress. With its Rapid-Deployment Units for Salvage and Water and Sanitation (SEEBA and SEEWA), THW provides emergency relief everywhere in the world, where it is needed. Furthermore, it is active in providing advice and support for the coordination of relief measures.

The history of the country, personal experiences, trauma and non-violence – these were the main issues during the “Peace Summer Camp” which took place in mid-July near Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina. More than 100 young people from all the country’s ethnic and religious groups took advantage of the event for sharing and exchange. Nine THW international specialists from Bavaria set up the infrastructure for the one-week educational youth encounter in the Igman mountains.

The earth often quakes – most recently in Ecuador, Myanmar and Japan. On April 25, 2015, a severe earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Nepal, at the roof of the world. In regions around the capital, Kathmandu, almost 9,000 people lost their lives and 100,000 were seriously injured. Many more lost their homes and any access to clean water. Experts from the THW Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply Abroad (SEEWA) were deployed as part of the immediate emergency intervention and immediately set about alleviating the problem with lack of potable water in Nepal.

In the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, THW has been working since 2013 to ensure that refugees from Syria and internally displaced Iraqis have safe places to find shelter. The THW measures are designed to have a sustainable effect, which is why the organisation is training the residents and promoting social involvement.

For more than three years now, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has committed itself to refugees in the Near and Middle East. In the autonomous region of Kurdistan in North Iraq both civil war refugees from Syria and internally displaced Iraqi have to be accommodated and looked after.

With the return of the remaining four volunteers at the weekend, THW's operations in Nepal were completed after 44 days. After the devastating earthquakes, THW operated mainly in Kathmandu. On behalf of the Federal Government and upon request of the Foreign Office, THW deployed 33 experts to represent German Humanitarian Aid. The THW volunteers treated drinking water for the survivors, were active on behalf of the German embassy in a variety of tasks, inspected buildings and also supported the UN as well as the EU in the areas of logistics and the coordination of the international aid. The operations were financed by the Foreign Office.

After three weeks, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has successfully completed the water treatment in Nepal. The voluntary THW experts distributed about 1.4 million litres of clean drinking water to the local population. The local water supplier assumes the drinking water supply again after the water infrastructure had been repaired. However, the operations of THW have not yet come to an end. At the moment, damage to buildings is being assessed ,which had been caused by another earthquake on 12th May.

After another serious earthquake in Nepal, the THW volunteers in Nepal are well. One volunteer has suffered mild injuries during the aftershocks.
The drinking water treatment units, with which THW has produced clean water for about two weeks, had to be temporarily interrupted but were not damaged.

For three years, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) contributed to setting up camps for Syrian refugees in Jordan and carried out maintenance work. The work of the THW volunteers in the desert ended last week with a ceremonial opening of a 60-metre long steel bridge in al Azraq.

Sub-zero temperatures, rain fall and snow – the winter does not even stop in front of the desert in North Iraq. It makes the life of the Syrian refugees and the internally displaced Iraqi, who have taken refuge there, even more difficult. Among other things, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief contributes to making the camps winter firm.